Adampur Air Force Base 3.21

Adampur Air Force Station is located in Northern India, 21 kilometres northeast of Jallandhar, Punjab. It is the second largest military airbase of India. It lies within 100 km of Indo-Pak Border and home to No. 47 Squadron IAF and No. 223 Squadron IAF.HistoryThe base played a crucial role in the Indo-Pakistani war of 1965. On September 6 1965, the PAF attacked Indian airfields at Pathankot, Adampur and Halwara.The attacks on Adampur and Halwara were failures. The Strike group turned back before even reaching Adampur.On 7 September 1965, the PAF parachuted 135 Special Services Group (SSG) para commandos at three Indian airfields (Halwara, Pathankot and Adampur). The daring attempt proved to be an "unmitigated disaster". Only ten commandos were able to return to Pakistan, the rest were taken as prisoners of war (including one of the Commanders of the operations, Major Khalid Butt). At Adampur these troops landed in residential areas where the villagers caught and handed them over to police.The Indo-Pakistani war of 1971 on western front started with Operation Chengiz Khan on 3 December 1971. Pathankot Air Force Station was hit and runway heavily damaged. Pathankot was covered by interceptors from Adampur following this first strike during the time it took the ground crew to repair its runway.